DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Highway 61 correspondence and documents, 1968-1974 | 1970-06-30 Fort Madison Branch, NAACP to Federal Highway Administration, Equal Opportunity Administration Page 4

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Highway 61 correspondence and documents, 1968-1974

1970-06-30 Fort Madison Branch, NAACP to Federal Highway Administration, Equal Opportunity Administration Page 4

4

housing. It would also be much more scenic and convenient for the traveler.

14. Finally, I find it deplorable, that in this day and age, groups of men and women who have contributed to the upkeep of this city, for years, because they have worked and paid their taxes, must now be denied the right to live in homes with yards and the improvements it took them years to be able to make. Because of the systematic discrimination in this community, these people are living where they are. It is also because of the biased attitude of the people in the decision making positions that these people are being called upon to "willingly" sacrifice for the good of the total community, when they know as well as I, that the same few who have always benefited, will do so, again.

In closing, I would like to ask that this situation be investigated and reviewed. There is no need for government funds to be spent when another project will outdate it in a few years. We do need low-rent housing in Fort Madison, but we have needed it, for years. We could better use the Federal funds by having people avail themselves of the numerous "self-help" programs. Minority groups and poor whites should not have to keep paying so that the established "power structure" can continue to grow. I would appreciate an answer to this correspondence in the very near future.

Sincerely,

(Miss) Virginia Harper
Branch Administrative Secretary

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4 housing. It would also be much more scenic and convenient for the traveler. 14. Finally, I find it deplorable, that in this day and age, groups of men and women who have contributed to the upkeep of this city, for years, because they have worked and paid their taxes, must now be denied the right to live in homes with yards and the improvements it took them years to be able to make. Because of the systematic discrimination in this community, these people are living where they are. It is also because of the biased attitude of the people in the decision making positions that these people are being called upon to "willingly" sacrifice for the good of the total community, when they know as well as I, that the same few who have always benefited, will do so, again. In closing, I would like to ask that this situation be investigated and reviewed. There is no need for government funds to be spent when another project will outdate it in a few years. We do need low-rent housing in Fort Madison, but we have needed it, for years. We could better use the Federal funds by having people avail themselves of the numerous "self-help" programs. Minority groups and poor whites should not have to keep paying so that the established "power structure" can continue to grow. I would appreciate an answer to this correspondence in the very near future. Sincerely, (Miss) Virginia Harper Branch Administrative Secretary